ABSTRACT

Only 5 Of?p stars have been identified in the Galaxy. Of these, 3 have been studied in detail, and within the past 5 years magnetic fields have been detected in each of them. The observed magnetic and spectral characteristics are indicative of organised magnetic fields, likely of fossil origin, confining their supersonic stellar winds into dense, structured magnetospheres. The systematic detection of magnetic fields in these stars strongly suggests that the Of?p stars represent a general class of magnetic O-type stars.